The Hermès Wanderland exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery pays tribute to the Parisian concept of Flânerie, which is chosen as luxury brand Hermès’ 2015 annual theme. Artistic Director Pierre-Alexis Dumas describes it as "that wonderfully liberating art of urban wandering, that is second nature to Hermès, one could even say our most profound nature".
The exhibition is a treasure-trove of objects gathered from the Hermès archive, the museum collection of Emile Hermès at 24 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris and Hermès’ contemporary collections. They include classic items such as a bike, a travel writing case and a watch.
Hermés Wanderland exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, London
The collection spans over eleven rooms, with set designer Hubert le Gall inviting us to a fantasy world where Paris is the ultimate protagonist. “Wanderland” also includes installations by various artists to collaborate in the project, the curators wanted to intrigue visitors, urging each of them to “open their eyes, free their minds and be enveloped by the color, sounds and images that surround them”.
The exhibition will run at the Saatchi Gallery until 2 May 2015, then it will travel to Paris in mid-September.
If you can't make it to the exhibition, do not fret. Alfies is another wonderland full of unique treasures. We found some luxury items that wouldn't look out of place in the Hermès archive!
The art and design of the Art Deco era (1920-1939) is characterised by geometric shapes, bright colours and decorative motifs deriving from a wide range of styles of the 20th Century such as Neo-classical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Art Noveau and Futurism. In Europe, its popularity peaked in the 1920s and in the USA it continued strongly through the 1930s. Differing from other art and design movements which have political or philosophical intentions, Art Deco was purely decorative. The term Art Deco, also known as moderne or modernistic, is an abbreviation of the French words art and décoratif, from the 1925 Paris Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels, which showcased new and exciting forms of French design that sparked the Art Deco style.
Poster for the influential exposition
The stylistic label Art Deco was introduced later in the mid 1960s when the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris organised an exhibition named Les Années 25: Art Déco/ Bauhaus/ Stijl/ L'Esprit Nouveau. And the term became more familiarized by the publication of the book Art Deco of the 20s and 30s by Bevis Hillier in 1968.
Art Deco design is based on mathematical geometric shapes in trapezoidal, zigzagged and jumbled designs, seen in the motifs of abstracted garlands of flowers, flowing fountains, running deer, chevrons, lightning flashes, and sunbursts. These shapes were influenced by the crystalline and faceted forms of decorative Cubism and Futurism, as well as ethnographic arts of Africa, Aztec Mexico and especially Egypt after the opening of Tutankhamun's Tomb in 1922.
A selection of Art Deco shapes
The collecting of ‘primitive’ artefacts at the beginning of the 20th Century inspired designers to use exotic woods, ivory, snake, shark and zebra skin. Art Deco design was also influenced by Machine Age or streamline technology, such as modern aviation, electric lighting, the radio, the ocean liner and the skyscraper. New materials such as Bakelite, Vitrolite, and chromium plating were important to the Art Deco style, as well as aluminium, stainless steel, lacquer and inlaid wood. In architecture, Art Deco was applied in sleek columns and radiating shapes such as in the Chrysler Building, and the colourfulness of Art Deco is best seen in Miami Beach.
Miami Beach Art Deco houses
Art Deco lost its fame in the West after reaching mass production in the late 1930s and began to be thought of as gaudy and an unecessary luxury, and its presence was cut short by the austerities of The Second World War. Many later artistic movements were influenced by Art Deco such as Memphis and Pop Art, and in the 1960s, and again in the 1980s graphic design used Art Deco imagery, and its association with film noir and 1930s glamour were used to advertise fashion, jewellery and perfume.
The symmetry and repetition of Art Deco design spanned across jewellery, kitchen ware and decorative objects, seen in a selection of items from Alfies:
Colourful deco crystal necklaces and a dog brooch in celluloid. Prices from £ 35.00, from The Originals – Paola & Iaia
A pair of rare Art Deco salt and pepper shakers with radiating designs, c.1925 offered by W & L Antiques
Two tier silver plated cake stand designed by Mappin and Webb, offered by Goldsmith & Perris
Five mirror Deco vases. One pair of clear mirror, one pair of yellow mirror and one tall bronze mirror, all from Thirteen.
Two vases with stepped pyramid bases, offered by Renato
Lighting from the Art Deco era shows the gradual symmetry, such as these examples:
Orange phenolic and stepped chrome base original art deco table lamp, 1930's offered by Thirteen
Art Deco brown bakelite table lamp offered by Thirteen
A 1930's Art Deco crystal chandelier, width 80cm, offered by Lorna Lee Leslie
In interior design, the symmetry of Art Deco was combined with the beautiful use of wood, leather, metal and glass:
Elegant pair of 1930s consoles with drawers, in burr wood and leather, 90cm wide x 45 cm deep x 75 cm high, offered by Bent Ply
Round green glass Art Deco mirror offered by Louise Verber
